Dying with hope: A theological integration of interdisciplinary hospice care

This study of hospice care for terminally ill cancer patients describes the holistic concerns and methods of such care and draws on the author's clinical observations in proffering a Christian approach. The goal of hospice care is to alleviate the patient's total pain, the most urgently felt need. This study focuses on how hospice ministry can assist patients in completing their lives and help them prepare for their departure to the afterlife in hope.;This approach regards the patient as a human person who lives life, suffers and is dying in the totality of one's life, including personal relationships. Thus support of the dying patient must support the family in its role as co-caregivers and co-sufferers. The study discusses the necessity of disclosing to the patient the truth of one's condition and prescribes how this can be done to the patient's benefit. Methods of medically prolonging the patient's life so as to enhance the conclusion of that life are discussed.;A theological interpretation of death as the completion of one's life and preparation for the afterlife is offered as a basis for giving hope. The dying should be encouraged not to accept death per se, for death is destructive to the person, but to accept death "in Christ" as the will of God for concluding one's life and attaining to full maturity. Interpreting one's life and death positively is essential to a good departure. This goal is served by viewing one's life from the perspective of its future as well as the past.;The bulk of this dissertation was written in Japanese. Included is a 34-page English summary.